A progressive outlook on politics in Australia and abroad

Shared delusions

On this morning’s Sunrise “All Stars” segment, the bobblehead from the Daily Telegraph whose name I have forgotten mentioned that Howard’s “sorry doesn’t mean I apologise” clarification was prompted by a ‘tough’ question from Dennis Youcannahandamanagrandershanahan.

This makes me wonder – did Dennis actually intend to prompt that type of response? I can’t reconcile all of my other experiences of Shanahan with the notion that Dennis actually wanted Howard to look bad, which makes me think that Dennis was asking the journalistic equivalent of a Dorothy Dix question. Except that he had to know that Howard was not going to apologise or take responsibility, despite having been happy to foster the impression in 2004 that he had interest rates on a string. Which means that Shanahan shares John Howard’s irrational belief that voters like to hear lengthy quibbling about the distinction between saying sorry and apologising.